Some dragons are friendly, at least to the point of holding conversations with the player

Some level of economic simulation is in, with the prices of goods reflecting the state of the world

Blowing wind will whip up the surface of bodies of water

Lockpicking: still a minigame

In addition to the five major cities, there will be eight or nine smaller settlements to visit

You can buy houses again

Children will appear in some form in-game

The report originally had a tidbit about planned Facebook integration, which was shot down by Bethesda marketing guy Pete Hines. Hines did not make any move to deny the rest of the report, so my guess for now is that it's legit. It's legit, see below.

No huge surprises here, though I'm curious how Bethesda is approaching the problem posed by the presence of children in the go-anywhere, do-anything world of The Elder Scrolls. If it were me, I'd probably go with "avenging god immediately lightning bolts your face off" as a solution to anyone who harms a child.

We've reached out to Bethesda for comment and will update this story with any new information. A Bethesda spokesperson has confirmed that the information is legit. Fans rejoice! I know you were all dying to know about lockpicking.

Well knowing the modders, they'd find a way around the "Avenging god" ordeal, but I don't see children as a huge part of the story despite them being important to a game that is supposed to feel like a second life. I would however love a fighters guild quest where you're hired by grieving parents to avenge a child killed by a Famous bandit or monster!

Well there's two ways around the child problem... either make it so they cannot die in any way, shape or form, like Fallout 3, or cause the player damage or kill the player if they try to harm the child, similar to Halo Reach with the civilians.

Probably the same as Fallout. You can interact with the children, but you can harm them in any way. It's always bothered me. Chasing that boy down to get Euclid's C-Finder was irritating. I tried my hardest to cause him bodily harm.

None of that was particularly surprising though, I agree...
Bah, I guess some news is better than no news.
Regarding children, is it going to be like Fallout? Completely unreal in the sense that they're like god-figures? It's kinda annoying. I get the censorship, which makes it all the more annoying (because it always makes a difference if you're murdering everything else but OH GOD the kids! LOL)